In an informal street poll following Russian President Vladimir Putin's remarks to the German Bild magazine that economic recovery is on the way, Muscovites said, variously, that a recovery was "doubtful for now," that the country was "in a swamp and getting in deeper," and while improvement wasn't evident, Putin must know what he's doing. (Russian Service)

In a “most-read” interview on RFE/RL’s Russian language website, prominent mathematician and blogger Mikhail Verbitsky, a founder of the alternative Live Journal social network, said that he’s modified his earlier predictions and now believes Russia is heading toward a Chinese model of total Internet censorship. (In Russian)

In an interview with RFE/RL, Soviet liberal politician and veteran Ukrainian diplomat Yuri Scherbak said that among other things, Russia will have to face the difficult reality of no longer being able to rely on its energy resources as a weapon. (In Russian)